1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to accessing content through a network and more particularly to localized content delivery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Empowered by the next generation of wireless technology, cellular networks can provide users with access to information from the Internet such as video on demand, video conferences, databases, etc. The use of cellular phones is thus no longer limited to voice transmission.
However, there are still some problems with the delivery of Internet content through cellular phones. For example, even with the high bandwidth connection provided by advanced cellular systems, there remains a bottleneck between the Internet and the cellular network (CN), as well as delays caused by the Internet itself. This condition hinders the ability of cellular phone users to fully exploit the capabilities of the advanced CN. Since smooth and effective data flow is important to users, this bottleneck hinders the adoption of cellular phones for Internet access.
Making payment requests is another area of need. Although more and more individuals have become accustomed to purchasing goods and services online, there is not a streamlined and consistent mechanism for securely making requests for such payments.
Still another area of need relates to alerts. Locations including homes, offices, and other environments typically include computing devices as well as at least some form of network connection. Despite all of this connectivity, there are certain conditions for which adequate alerts remain unavailable. For example, billions of children wear diapers, and probably a quarter of them may suffer the effects of wet diapers at any given moment, since caretakers (e.g., parents, baby sitters, etc.) are not apprised of the status of their diapers in real time.
Thus, there remains a need for systems and corresponding devices and processes that avoid the shortcomings of existing networks for delivering Internet content using the CN. There also remains a need for systems and corresponding techniques for making payment requests. There also remains a need for systems and corresponding techniques for delivering alerts to individuals such as caregivers tasked with managing a child in diapers.